Pastry phobia resolved: Apple Pockets recipe

Gwendolyn Richards, Postmedia News01.15.2014

Two Apple Pockets made with double the pastry recommended and one (front, centre) made with the amount called for. The thinner pastry was harder to work with and had to be patched, but turned out much better than expected.Gwendolyn Richards
/ Postmedia News

These two Apple Pockets were made with double the pastry the recipe called for, which made it easier to work with.Gwendolyn Richards
/ Postmedia News

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But January seems a good a time as any to tackle cooking and baking projects I have avoided in the past due to my abject fear of failure.

Top of the list: pastry.

Every time I’ve tried to tackle pie dough, it has not ended well: shrinking crusts, doughs that don’t seem to come together with the amount of water suggested (combined with the frustration of knowing using as little water as possible is key to a light and flaky crust) and pastries that rip, tear and otherwise fall apart when it comes to rolling.

In my head I hear all the warnings to keep everything as cold as possible and handle the dough as little as possible.

And I also hear everyone saying it’s not that hard, really.

Still, I had relegated my rolling pin to the back of the cupboard because at this point I believe pastry can smell fear and it knows I have no idea what I’m doing.

This is Stuart’s second book, following up on Perfect Pies, and includes the requisite pie recipes, as well as those for bars, cakes, cookies and toppings.

A literal pie-baking champion — 27 wins under her apron — Stuart would lead me to the perfect pie, I thought.

Although the book includes easy, moderate and challenging varieties of pie — relating to the time it takes to make a recipe — the point of this was pastry, so I chose the moderate-level Apple Pockets, an apple pie in folded-over pastry that can be eaten by hand.

The pastry came together quite easily, in no small part to Stuart’s detailed instructions and also because she calls only for shortening in her recipe, which is easier to handle than butter, or so I’ve found. (Now might be a good time to talk about butter vs. shortening in pie crusts. Butter imparts a lot of flavour but doesn’t tend to be as flaky as a crust that uses shortening. I’ve tried both ways and will probably in the future adopt my mom’s version, which uses a combination for a best-of-both-worlds recipe.)

Things started to go sideways when it came to chilling the pastry. That is, it didn’t seem to actually chill. This step is key, so I let the crust hang out in the fridge for much longer than recommended.

Then things really seemed to fall apart. To meet the size requirement of the hand-held pies, my pastry was paper thin and unwieldy, ripping apart easily and cracking at the edges. Trying to pull it over the large portion of spiced apple slices was an exercise in frustration as I madly patched holes with scraps. I did get four hand pies out of the dough, but they were the ugliest things I had ever seen and were certainly not as full of filling as Stuart said they should be.

(I also had a larger amount of apples than Stuart calls for, though I peeled the requisite four, and I found the instructions for dividing up the filling confusing. Why not just say divide in four. Telling me a cup measurement prompts me to attempt to use an actual measuring cup — tricky for sliced apples.)

I took the other portion of pastry I made (as the crust recipe makes two and the Apple Pockets only calls for one) and used it to make two much larger, but also thicker-crusted and less fragile, pocket pies to use up the rest of the filling.

Glazed with egg wash and sprinkled with sugar, they all went into the oven while I lamented on Twitter that I was facing a pastry disaster.

But something happened in the oven. Those patchwork pies with wonky, ugly edges baked up into flaky layers of pastry snuggling sweet and softly spiced apples. My dough surgery was still visible, but less so. There was no real evidence of the struggle I’d had making them.

More importantly, eating them proved looks really aren’t what matters.

Despite the frustrations, the success — even if not perfect — proved this is something I should keep trying. If only because the result is always getting to eat pie.

Apple Pockets

Stuart recommends Cortland apples, which I’ve never seen in my local store. I used Pink Lady apples and they were lovely. Eat straight up or, as Stuart recommends, with whipped cream or a dollop of ice cream. My four apples made far more filling than the 2 cups called for; I advise going more with the cup measurement than by number of apples.)

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

To prepare the egg wash, in a small bowl, whisk together the egg, water and salt. Set the egg wash aside.

Lightly sprinkle a rolling surface with flour, making sure that the entire surface is covered. Divide the disk of dough into 4 smaller disks. Roll out each small disk of dough into a circle about 7 inches (18 cm) in diameter.

To prepare the filling, in a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup (125 mL) of the sugar, the flour, the cinnamon and the nutmeg. Place the apples in a large bowl and sprinkle the sugar mixture over them. Toss the apples so that they are evenly coated.

Using a pastry brush, apply the egg wash to the edges of the dough circles. Measure out four 3/4-cup (180 mL) batches of the apple mixture and place 1 batch in the centre of each of the 4 dough circles. Dot each of the 4 batches of the apples with 1 of the small pieces of butter. To form the pockets, fold the circle in half to enclose the apples. Using the tines of a fork, seal the edges of the circle so that the apples are completely enclosed in the dough pocket. Use a pair of kitchen scissors or a pantry knife to cut a 1/2-inch (1-cm) hole in the centre of the pocket for ventilation (you can also vent the pocket with a fork if you prefer).

Place the apple pockets on the lined baking sheet. Brush the tops of the apple pockets with the remaining egg wash and sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup (60 mL) of sugar.

To bake, place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven and bake the apple pockets for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the crust turns a golden brown and the apples are tender. Insert a knife into 1 of the pockets to check the firmness of the apples. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the apple pockets to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Apple Pockets are best served the day they are made, but they can be kept overnight at room temperature. Serve as is or warmed with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to garnish.

Makes 4 Apple Pockets.

Traditional Pastry Pie Crust

This makes enough for one 9- or 10-inch double-crust pie crust. If only using one half, wrap the remaining piece tightly in plastic wrap and keep in the fridge for up to five days or in the freezer for one month.

2 cups (500 mL) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp (5 mL) salt

3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp (210 mL) Crisco, cold

5 tbsp (75 mL) water, ice-cold

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Add the Crisco to the flour mixture. Either with a pastry blender or with your fingertips, mix the ingredients together with an up-and-down chopping motion until the dough forms coarse, pea-size crumbs. Note: I prefer to use my fingertips, but take care not to overhandle the dough, because it will become difficult to work with; when the dough is overhandled, the Crisco becomes too incorporated. In the perfect pie, the Crisco will have a marbleized look when the dough is rolled out, and you will actually be able to see Crisco swirls within the uncooked dough.

Add the ice-cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, delicately incorporating each tablespoon into the flour mixture before you add the next. You may have to use 1 more or 1 less tablespoon of water than the amount recommended, depending upon the humidity in your kitchen at the time of baking. You will know you have added just the right amount of water when the dough forms a ball that easily holds together.

Use your palm to form the dough into a disk shape, wrap it in plastic and place it in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes. Once the dough has chilled, divide the disk in half. You now have enough dough for either one 9- or 10-inch double-crust (1 pie shell and 1 top crust) or two 9- or 10-inch single crusts (pie shell only).

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